Pioneer CDJ-350 and DJM-350

Guest post written by Steven Williams

Although it may be designed for the intermediate DJ, the Pioneer CDJ-350 and DJM-350 are full of features you would find on the more advanced CDJ-2000, we’re reviewing them as a package but are of course available individually.

In terms of uses the Pioneer CDJ-350 is very much value for money when you consider just how much you’re getting from a cheaper product in the pioneer range. It can also handle most audio formats you can throw at it as its MP3, WAV and AIFF, from either CD or USB. When hooked up to a computer it not only acts as a MIDI controller for your essential music and DJ software but also as an audio interface.

In terms of setup, two Pioneer CDJ-350’s along with the Pioneer DJM-350 looks good, compact and easy to assemble and perhaps most importantly the cheapest Pioneer CDJ’s with the Rekordbox feature. They have however sacrificed density for the low price and at first feels quite flimsy, but it just takes a bit of getting used to.

Pioneer CDJ-350 & DJM-350 Guide

One of the new features of the Pioneer CDJ-350 allows you to create and edit playlists on the go saving straight onto a USB device. Also the new Rekordbox software figures out the BPM and beat position for every song you have. Simply save the tracks you want for a set onto a USB device and then you can select them by album, artist or genre. The Rekordbox then makes it even easier for you with the BPM lock feature. When pressed the speed of each track that is playing will match the master BPM that you set so no more excuses for messing up a mix! Other functions include; up a beat display, auto beat loop, loop divide and hot loop.

In addition to these, you get a bookmark feature that remembers where you were up to on a CD when it’s removed, and then starts from where it was when you return it. A clever feature is the beat indicator on screen, which shows a bar moving through each beat. And also perhaps most crucial of all, a Shock-Proof memory and a floating architecture that prevents a DJ’s worst nightmare of the CD skipping when the decks get knocked or the volume is turned up to the max.

When you get right down to it, it’s the sound that matters which is why Pioneer haven’t compromised anything in this department. With signal processing handled by the units capable of 48kHz/24-bit digital signal processor and the analogue sound converted via the shortest of circuits so the mixer looses nothing along the way. So you get no unwanted noise and crystal clear sound.

For the DJ’s wishing to record their sets, simply hit the ‘track mark’ button and your perfect mixes will be indexed and ready to burn on to CD without making a single edit. Or drag and drop your files into the Rekordbox software and your music will be automatically primed with beatgrids to take advantage of the CDJ-350’s beat-keeping tools.

Bought as individual products they’re good but when purchased as a set the Pioneer CDJ-350?s along with the Pioneer DJM-350 becomes a high quality setup that’s nightclub quality for personal prices. Well recommended.